Too Close For Comfort
by madeleine68
Summary: The squad's working on a case that's hitting close to home for Captain Cragen . . . CHAPTER 2 IS UP! Review for more!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If you've seen them on the show, they belong to Dick Wolf, not me.**

**I know this idea is kind of unconventional, but allow me a bit of leeway. It's from Captain Cragen's point of view. The idea came from this weird dream I had and I wrote the last chapter first. **

_Anna Jameson, age 9. June 1961_

_Stephanie Reed, age 8. September 1961_

_Ellen DeGrees, age 8. December 1961_

_Sarah Baker, age 9. February 1962_

_Melanie Anderson, age 10. July 1962_

_Marta Brown, age 7. October 1962_

Leafing through the scrapbook they'd created of the victims – the _known _victims – is like taking a journey to the past. All the girls are young, blonde, and beautiful. The pictures were taken at school and the girls are all smiling widely, their hair in braids, wearing old-fashioned dresses.

I flip ahead a few years. There are more victims here.

_Erica Johnson, age 7. May 1988_

_Shauna Levine, age 8. October 1988_

_Dana Carlisle, age 10. February 1989_

_Stephanie Lewin, age 7. June 1989_

_Amanda Stevenson, age 9. November 1989_

_Mia DiAngelo, age 8. March 1990_

The attacks continue. All the way from 1961 to today, several a year. He must be getting old by now – in 1961, he was in his twenties. We've spent years trying to catch this guy, but our search has been futile, and eventually it's been pushed to the back burner. We investigate for a few days after each attack, add to the file, and move on. This guy must be in his seventies now, and my squad is just waiting for him to die.

I disagree, and so every new attack, we dutifully investigate and store away for future reference. Someday, he's going to screw up and we'll be savvy enough to get him when he does. I'm going to catch the perp if it's the last thing I do.

Every little girl, raped and murdered. They're from different boroughs but they are almost identical – small, blonde, cute, described by their parents as friendly and outgoing.

_Jessica Grayson, age 9. April 2000_

_Marianne DeMarco, age 10. September 2000_

_Jennifer Marsh, age 7. January 2001_

_Dannika Lawrence, age 8. April 2001_

_Sydney Green, age 7. October 2001_

_Brynn Mandel, age 8. March 2002_

I hear a knock on my office door and put away the scrapbook. I glance at it every so often even when we're not working the case. They remind me why I chose this job to begin with.

Olivia stands in the doorway. "Captain, we just got a call from the 2-7. TEO's back."

We've christened the killer TEO for "the elusive one." John's idea, obviously.

I sigh. "Who's the vic this time?"

"Seven-year-old girl named Daniela Richards. From Queen's."

"You and Elliot go interview the parents. Tell John and Fin to canvass the neighborhood, see if anyone saw anything suspicious."

She nods. As she shuts the door, I take the scrapbook out again.

_Madeleine Brodky, age 8. April 2009_

_Taryn McClearly, age 7. July 2009_

_Annabelle Grossi, age 10. September 2009_

_Gracelyn Sherwood, age 8. December 2009_

_Everleigh Golden, age 9. March 2010_

And now one more:

_Daniela Richards, age 7. May 2010_

There's one more victim from the very beginning. One that came before Anna Jameson, before he'd gotten comfortable, brilliant, and elusive. I know it was him but I still don't include this little girl in the scrapbook. I know he killed her, but my squad doesn't. I hold this one close to heart and she's the reason why I decided to become a detective to begin with.

I'll never tell.

**Do you like it so far? Do you want to know who this particular victim is and why she's so important to Cragen? Review for chapter two!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it's been so long. My Internet's been down – actually, it's still down but my dad just bought me a laptop with I'm soooooo excited about and he bought me a Rogers Internet stick so even if the house connection is down, I can get Internet. And I'm so excited for the SVU season finale tomorrow night (well, here in Canada – I think in the US it plays on Wednesday). I also bought the whole season of **_**Conviction **_**off Amazon for a ridiculously unfair price because I wanted to see Alex as bureau chief (she's my absolute favourite ADA). It was actually pretty good and I watched all thirteen episode. I also bought Trial By Jury just because, so I didn't have much time to write. But now I'm back! Enjoy.**

I didn't have a great childhood. Sure, my parents loved me. But my life was always overshadowed by a mysterious, almost ghostlike presence. A little girl who haunted my dreams, her arms outstretched as she fell into a bottomless whirlpool of demise, screaming for me to save her. "Donny! Donny!" That was what she called me.

She was always there. When I brought home an A on my report card, when I started high school, when I had my first girlfriend, my first kiss, my high school graduation, there she was. And the words were there, even though no one said them: _This was one more milestone she never got to reach_. Even when I got married, became a detective, then the captain, she was the one thing that kept me moving forward every day.

When I was a child, there was a candy store a block from my house. When I was six, my parents decided to let me go there with my friends on one condition – I had to let my little sister tag along. I resented her for it. She was three years my junior and I wanted nothing to do with her. I would have preferred to hang out with my friends rather than having a little girl with blonde pigtails trotting along a few steps behind us, clutching her doll and sucking on a red lollipop that the man at the candy store had given her, free of charge.

One day my two best friends, Steven and Liam, and I were on our way to the candy store. My sister was skipping beside us, happy to be included and excited for the candy. I never understood why the "Candyman," as we'd christened him, gave her free lollipops every week but we boys had to use our own nickels to buy our sweets.

I was a naïve little boy. So shoot me.

He always smiled at her and made a bit of small talk, asking her about her doll, her new dress, her family. She would give him a gap-toothed smile and reply with her adorable lisp, hugging her doll tightly to her chest. He would give her a candy before turning to us with a disapproving stare and ask us what we wanted, as if we were putting him out by being there.

I push my sister from my mind. Right now, I need to organize my detectives – and myself, if I can handle it – into finding out what happened to Daniela Richards.

John and Fin return first. Fin knocks on my door. "Captain, it's definitely him."

I sigh. Just as I've expected.

"But," adds John, coming up behind him. "He's managed to elude our tenuous grasp once again."

"Did anyone see him with a woman?" Maybe he's got a new girlfriend and he's hiding out with her. It's possible; it's happened before. But by the time we hunted her down, she was either conveniently amnesiac, badly beaten, or dead.

"Yeah," says Fin. "Her name's Marisa Anachek."

"She's MIA," adds John.

_Go figure. _"Well, go find her."

Fin raises his eyebrows. "Aren't you –"

"No," I say shortly. "Go."

They scamper out.

Usually with a case as big as this, I'm out and about with my detectives. But now, I can't bring myself to leave my office. All I can do is leaf through the scrapbook and remember.

The first time we heard of this guy was 1989. I was working with the 2-7 and a girl named Amanda Stevenson had gone missing and was found dead a few days later in the woods near her house. The case file was eerily familiar and I took a special interest in it. We worked hard, but to no avail.

Then several months later, there was a new victim, and once again we caught the case. So on it went for years and when I transferred to SVU, so did the cases. They meant something to me, more than any other case ever had. This was the reason why I'd become a police officer to begin with and I wouldn't rest until I put this elusive monster behind bars. This was my destiny.

**Do you know who the first victim is? Do you have any idea? Would you like me to confirm or deny your suspicions? Are they going to find the perp? Review to find out!**


End file.
